Destiny
by Inarae
Summary: RG Veda. pre manga, Ashura and Taishakuten have an uneasy relationship. . . continued on private webpage
1. Fire

FIRE 

A RG Veda/Seiden fanfic by Inarae

All rights relating to RG Veda belong to CLAMP and anyone they have gifted with rights to it, which does not include me.

Rating:  I'm going to say R for violence, because that is definitely the tone, even if it doesn't exactly happen.  Shonen-Ai.  Oh come on, there has to be a better word than boy's love for Taishakuten talking about wanting King Ashura without them actually having sex.  They are most definitely not boys.  Um, in case you missed it, this is about two men being in love, one of who is a violent bastard.  Don't read if either violence or slash bothers you.

Fair warning:  I read all of RG Veda in the original Japanese.  And although I read Japanese well enough to read through it pretty much without problems, there are areas I didn't understand and was just too lazy to get out a dictionary for.  I know there are translations, but I prefered to read it on my own.  I also read it years ago, and it's kinda fuzzy in my mind.  So there may be some continuity flaws, which I apologize for.

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Fire forges metal into a blade.  It sustains life through winter darkness.  And in a world of glass, it melts everyone it touches.

I could feel it inside the gentle, quiet man; a burning delight of the sort that convinces warriors to lick their opponent's blood off the steel of their blade before the other's dying eyes.  It's heat and vivaciousness drew me to him, making the casual bedroom games of power I had previously indulged in to revel in my own superiority seem pale and tame.

                My apartments used to be filled with weaponry and statues of ancient heroes molded from heavy bronze.  After I met King Ashura, I added a delicate flower of spun glass, no larger than my hand.  When it broke, the shards would be as sharp and deadly as any of my swords, I knew.  

                I am not a nice person.  I am very much not a nice person.  I have but one desire, and that is power, success.  I see no glory in tender flowers that die upon the onset of winter.  In the winter, all their dried stalks are good for is fuel for the fire that keeps me warm.  What do the others think is the point of these little power games we play?  The ladies in their gorgeous robes and jewels, the men with their poetry and physical prowess, we all have the same goal: to win the heart and soul of a powerful follower or a patron.  To be the one warmed by the fire in the winter, not the fuel.

                And winter is coming.  All the prophets have foreseen it.  The world is already descending into chaos with the dying of the law.  Even the emperor is not immune to the slick temptations that will destroy us.  But they do not acknowledge it.  What do they plan to do then, laugh sweetly at death as it comes to claim them?    I will laugh, but it will be as death's head rolls at my feet.

                They have forgotten that the wheel of stars turns constantly, and the bland flowers of our life now will eventually wither and die in the harsh heat of the summer sun.  Soon I shall ascend.

                I smile and arch my back, feeling the layers of muscle flex pleasurably under my skin.  I am strong, like the bronzed steel of the armor I wear so lightly    Someday, I will show him that strength.  

He sees no attraction in it though, unfortunately.  He has his own strength, power to rival mine, but unlike me, he takes no glory or comfort in his abilities.  I revel in being a creature of steel in a world of glass, but he sorrows in the knowledge that his fire may burn it to ashes. 

He is more arrogant than I, in that.  I am aware that when I finally show the world my power, a few will die.  He thinks that the use of his true power will eradicate all of existence.  

                He is young and naive, but no fool.  Is it possible that his fear and coward-like hesitance is justified?  Could he possibly be that much more powerful than I?   Ahh, thinking it just makes me want him more.  Such a gentle, fragile countenance for the demonic god of war.  Such unassuming beauty for the fire I would use to forge myself into a perfect blade.

                A pity that I have nothing he desires.  

Taishakuten

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Gulp.  Ok, I really need to write more cheerful stuff.  I promised myself a while back never to go into a angst funk, and now I have . . . I may write one of these from Ashura's perspective as he makes that little deal with Taishakuten later.  Thanks for reading, C&C welcome and enjoyed.

Inarae

ginabrae@aol.com


	2. Oncoming Storm

ONOMING STORM

A RG Veda/Seiden fanfic by Inarae

RG Veda and everything associated with it belongs to CLAMP and anyone they have given rights to, which does not include me.

This is the sequel to FIRE.

Rating: PG-13 for . . . oh geeze, I don't know.  It's not violent, no one's having sex, it's just kinda disturbing and not something you show to a little kid, you know?

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                There are burdens that are too heavy for any man to bear and remain sane.  I do not think I am evil, or guilty of any great sin.  Is it evil for a father to want his child to live?  Is it a sin to want to protect the world from destruction?  But they are the only paths open to me.  If I had been mortal, I would have asked what sins in a past life made me deserve the pain of balancing the life of all three worlds in one hand, and my child and the continuation of my clan in the other.  But I am a god, and the only sins I carry are my own.  

                A sudden noise catches my ear, and I glance out the window as I walk by.   Princess Kitsushouten and Bishamonten are chatting under a flowering plum, the petals slowly drifting to the ground around them.  The princess is smiling happily with that pureness she's always had, and it was her tinkling laughter that had caught my attention.  Bishamonten watches her shyly, a quiet love and gentle yearning suffusing his stance.  They are beautiful.  But there is a darkness in Bishamonten, the darkness of having an all-consuming desire and the power to fulfill it, if only he'd give in to evil's seduction.  He reminds me of another, who's already taken that step.  

                And perhaps of myself.

                I look away and continue down the hall, the cold white marble stretching up into darkness far above my head.  

                "There is no pain for one who refuses to feel it."  

There is also the one who told me those words, lounging on velvet cushions with silken robes gaping open to show the muscles he used to dominate and kill, while gods and servants alike tended to his every desire.  

                This elegant palace took over a thousand years to build, and the best artisans of history designed it, from the smooth patterned tiles I trod upon to the detailed carvings that adorn every wall.  Only a people used to peace and prosperity would have the leisure to build such a thing.  And we have been a happy people for a very, very long time.  Oh, certainly there have been revolts, murders, hatreds and betrayals.  But those are little things, compared to that which will awaken soon, regardless of what path I take.  

                It is my child who is destined to demolish all this.  

                From the moment the prophetess Kuyou first told me that, I knew it to be true.  I have felt the bloodlust rising in my soul with the passing years.  The seals that bind us gods of fire and war are weakening.  A youth burning with the fires of puberty would have no chance against the overwhelming lust for destruction that I feel even now.  And if the seals keep failing . . . The Ashura clan will regain its true form as the destroyers of the world.

                Taishakuten doesn't understand how I could prefer to remain in a false form, he who delights so fully in the power of the storm that is his alone to wield.  Sometimes I think that the only pleasure he feels is that which stems from the knowledge of his own power.   He is a sensualist, every movement intended to accomplish only one purpose, that of his own gratification.  If there is one man I would wish never to see in power, it would be him.  And yet I am about to offer it to him, because he is the only one who recognizes the darkness descending as a true threat, the only one with the power to have a chance at defying fate.  He is the only one who would even be willing to try, because he is the only one who would never acknowledge the existence of a power greater than his.  

                Given power, he will murder millions.  His rule would be cruel and oppressive.  His capriciousness will bring suffering to an unimaginable height.  But . . . he is my only hope.  In he alone is there the possibility that the world may be saved (@what were the other characters thinking about the prophecy?  Ask on cffml.)  Under his rule alone may both my child and this world continue to exist?  

                And yet, if doing this fails to stop the destruction, and merely increases the suffering . . .

                I close my eyes. 

 "There is no pain for one who refuses to feel it."  

I understand its attraction.

                As I walk the dark path towards his quarters, seeking a solution in offering that twisted mind all it ever desired, I wonder if I would still act this way if the lust for destruction wasn't clouding my thinking.

Ashura-Oh

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

                (Inarae blinks in surprise.)  I thought that writing Ashura-Oh would be a little less depressing than writing Taishakuten.  I'm not sure why I'm so into these two at the moment.  I just reread the last volume of RG Veda, maybe that's why.  I'm kinda in a, "there aren't any perfect solutions," mood too . . . someone needs to keep me away from CLAMP's works when I'm like this.                 

Thanks for reading, C&C welcome and enjoyed.

Inarae

ginabrae@aol.com


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